KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Officials in Missouri's largest city approved a resolution Thursday to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state lawmakers who voted a day earlier to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-nonbinary-hormone-puberty-missouri-lawmakers-5a8922430ffab9e43cf9b7ce254bff9f">ban such care for minors and restrict it for some adults</a>.

Democratic Mayor Quinton Lucas praised the 12 to 1 vote, saying the city is committed to being a “welcoming, inclusive, and safe place for everyone, including our transgender and LGBTQ+ community.”

Kansas City’s new, sanctuary status sets it apart as a Democratic-leaning city in a state with a Republican governor and GOP-controlled Legislature. Similar actions have been taken in cities that oppose state actions to restrict rights for transgender people, as in Austin, Texas.

GOP Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign into law the ban on gender-affirming care, joining at least 16 other states that have enacted similar laws restricting or banning such care for minors.

The resolution also comes as a judge considers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-gender-affirming-care-restrictions-missouri-4def2189dac9979a00d298efb3baf12a">a proposed emergency rule</a>&nbsp;from Republican state Attorney General Andrew Bailey that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy — and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatment.

A committee signed off&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sanctuary-city-lgbtq-kansas-city-resolution-bccdd5c33818bf9c1270ef2af63e393e">Wednesday</a>&nbsp;on the resolution, which says the city will not prosecute or fine any person or organization that seeks, provides, receives or helps someone to receive gender-affirming care such as as puberty blockers, hormones or surgery.

It also says that if the state passes a law or resolution that imposes criminal or civil punishments, fines, or professional sanctions in such cases, personnel in Missouri's largest city will make enforcing those requirements “their lowest priority.”

Republican state lawmakers across the U.S. who've attacked gender-affirming care as part of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-laws-states-gender-affirming-zephyr-fc2528326823c8232cb0aaa7ece0beab">a larger effort to roll back LGBTQ+ rights</a>&nbsp;have argued that they're protecting children from decisions they may later regret. But gender-affirming care for minors has been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gender-transition-treatment-guidelines-9dbe54f670a3a0f5f2831c2bf14f9bbb">endorsed by major medical associations.</a>

“This is an important first step in Kansas City’s commitment to trans and nonbinary people,” Merrique Jenson, founder of Transformations KC, said in a written statement after the vote. “I look forward to trans leaders and Kansas City working together to address the health disparities in our communities and ways we can have sustainable funding &amp; programming reaching all trans people.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1683837347410.png" alt="Photo courtesy Justice Horn, Chair of the Kansas City LGBTQ Commission&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Justice Horn, Chair of the Kansas City LGBTQ Commission&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Officials in Missouri's largest city approved a resolution Thursday to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state lawmakers who voted a day earlier to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-nonbinary-hormone-puberty-missouri-lawmakers-5a8922430ffab9e43cf9b7ce254bff9f">ban such care for minors and restrict it for some adults</a>.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Kansas City will always be a city that fights for what’s right. ⛲️ <a href="https://t.co/7FoAkmpSqF">pic.twitter.com/7FoAkmpSqF</a>&mdash; Justice Horn (@JusticeHorn_) <a href="https://twitter.com/JusticeHorn_/status/1656787250917806080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Democratic Mayor Quinton Lucas praised the 12 to 1 vote, saying the city is committed to being a “welcoming, inclusive, and safe place for everyone, including our transgender and LGBTQ+ community.”<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">HISTORY: In a move to defy the state, the Kansas City Council just pass a resolution making Kansas City a sanctuary city for gender-affirming healthcare! In an 11-1 vote, Kansas City sent a strong single of which side we’re on in the fight for human rights. <a href="https://t.co/gZE6r8DdAx">pic.twitter.com/gZE6r8DdAx</a>&mdash; Justice Horn (@JusticeHorn_) <a href="https://twitter.com/JusticeHorn_/status/1656768144885821445?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Kansas City’s new, sanctuary status sets it apart as a Democratic-leaning city in a state with a Republican governor and GOP-controlled Legislature. Similar actions have been taken in cities that oppose state actions to restrict rights for transgender people, as in Austin, Texas.GOP Gov. Mike Parson is expected to sign into law the ban on gender-affirming care, joining at least 16 other states that have enacted similar laws restricting or banning such care for minors.The resolution also comes as a judge considers&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-gender-affirming-care-restrictions-missouri-4def2189dac9979a00d298efb3baf12a">a proposed emergency rule</a>&nbsp;from Republican state Attorney General Andrew Bailey that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy — and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatment.A committee signed off&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sanctuary-city-lgbtq-kansas-city-resolution-bccdd5c33818bf9c1270ef2af63e393e">Wednesday</a>&nbsp;on the resolution, which says the city will not prosecute or fine any person or organization that seeks, provides, receives or helps someone to receive gender-affirming care such as as puberty blockers, hormones or surgery.It also says that if the state passes a law or resolution that imposes criminal or civil punishments, fines, or professional sanctions in such cases, personnel in Missouri's largest city will make enforcing those requirements “their lowest priority.”Republican state lawmakers across the U.S. who've attacked gender-affirming care as part of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/lgbtq-laws-states-gender-affirming-zephyr-fc2528326823c8232cb0aaa7ece0beab">a larger effort to roll back LGBTQ+ rights</a>&nbsp;have argued that they're protecting children from decisions they may later regret. But gender-affirming care for minors has been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/gender-transition-treatment-guidelines-9dbe54f670a3a0f5f2831c2bf14f9bbb">endorsed by major medical associations.</a>“This is an important first step in Kansas City’s commitment to trans and nonbinary people,” Merrique Jenson, founder of Transformations KC, said in a written statement after the vote. “I look forward to trans leaders and Kansas City working together to address the health disparities in our communities and ways we can have sustainable funding &amp; programming reaching all trans people.”

Kansas City declares itself a LGBTQ+ sanctuary city

By Danielle Prokop <a href="https://sourcenm.com/2023/05/11/waiting-on-the-day-before-title-42-ends/">Source NM</a>&nbsp;an affiliate of&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/02/17/state-ag-officials-push-for-on-time-farm-bill-to-fund-slew-of-programs/">States Newsroom</a>

EL PASO — Under the shadow of Gate 42, Elizabeth Ramirez repeated “I didn’t want it to be like this,” as she crossed over the Rio Grande, low and sluggish over algae.

She was one of a group of two dozen people surrendering to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on Wednesday. The people crossing would say where they were from – Colombia, Peru, Venezuela – children waved, people threw thumbs up or made hearts with their hands to the cameras and members of the media.

Ramirez walked nearly last, crying. She said that coming to the U.S. was a shared dream, between herself and her 13-year old daughter. She told reporters that her daughter was killed in Hermosillo, Sonora, where Ramirez was from.

“I’m holding her right here,” she said, carrying her daughter’s ashes in a bag to the bus waiting below the embankment.

Ramirez is one of the thousands of people to surrender to the border patrol in recent days, as a massive shift in immigration policy looms on the U.S. Southern border.

Title 42, a policy enacted in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, ends midnight Eastern time on May 11, expiring with the federal emergency order. It refers to a section in a 1994 public health law that allows curbing migration in the name of public health. Initially ordered under the Trump administration, it continued under President Biden.

The policy allowed authorities to immediately expel people seeking asylum at the border into Mexico, or to their country of origin, billing it as a way to limit the spread of the coronavirus. National medical experts joined with human rights groups to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://phr.org/news/title-42-has-no-basis-in-public-health-amicus-asylum-seekers/">object</a>&nbsp;to the policy, saying it has no basis in public health.

Over three years, authorities expelled people more than&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/nationwide-encounters">2.8 million times</a>. Unaccompanied children were exempt from the rule.

After the policy expires, the U.S. returns to federal immigration code Title 8, which restarts the legal processes to remove or deport people from the United States for entering the country illegally. Seeking asylum, like what Ramirez others are attempting, in the United States is a legal method of entering the country.

Customs and Border Patrol Agent Fidel Baca called the return to Title 8 a return to normalcy.

“We’ll be seeing an implementation of consequences for entering illegally,” he said. The consequences can be steep including a five-year ban on reentry and the possibility for prosecution for repeated attempts.

CBP agents at Gate 42 estimated that between 1,500 to 2,000 people were expected to enter Wednesday. More than 300 people were waiting to turn themselves into border patrol agents at 6:30 a.m.

Thousands of people have been sleeping on the streets of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez in recent weeks. In that time, people have been making the crossing. Tensions are high between migrants and authorities after a detention center fire in Juárez caused the deaths of 40 people&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2023/04/12/juarez-fire-migrants-lost-keys-mexico-immigration-venezuela-honduras/70082344007/">left behind locked</a>&nbsp;doors by guards.

Area shelters have been serving higher numbers of people since August 2022, organizers said, and that they’re focused on maintaining day-to-day operations

“We are just trying to keep our shelter open and care for people,” Father Rafael Garcia told&nbsp;Source NM&nbsp;in a sidewalk interview before the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

The city announced a plan last week to open&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2023/04/12/juarez-fire-migrants-lost-keys-mexico-immigration-venezuela-honduras/70082344007/">temporary shelters</a>&nbsp;at vacant schools. Three Texas border cities – El Paso, along with Brownsville and Laredo&nbsp; – declared a state of emergency in the lead up to Title 42’s expiration.

Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima said local groups and officials made policy changes around people entering the country after hundreds of people were essentially stranded in towns near the border.

In 2019, the Department of Homeland Security dropped off&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2019/04/18/more-than-1-000-migrants-have-now-been-dropped-off-las-cruces/3513372002/">more than 1,000 people</a>&nbsp;and the city was partially involved in sheltering them. Now that responsibility lies with local nonprofits, he said such as El Calavario United Methodist Church or Border Servant Corps.

“For the most part, they have replaced the city and the county in taking care of migrants,” Miyagishima said.

A lot has changed in intervening years, said El Calavario Pastor George Miller in a phone interview, saying that people from all over the world, not just Central and South America, need accommodations.

He said the nonprofit now receives some reimbursement for shelter and food from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and appliances from parent organization Church World Services, rather than purely through donations.

El Calavario&nbsp; allows people to stay overnight and for two days, offers food, clothing and arrangements for transportation to meet with family or other sponsors. Staff includes legal advisor and a social worker.

The capacity for the shelter is 50 to 60 people a day, five days a week. While the numbers fluctuate, the past week immigration authorities brought five busloads, totaling about 250 people.

“Everybody is anticipating that we are going to probably be at full capacity for over the next month or two,” Miller said.

Border Servant Corps did not respond to requests for comment.

Local nonprofits are not driving the emergency plan, said Stephen Lopez, the emergency manager for Doña Ana and Las Cruces.

Since he said the shelters in Las Cruces are voluntarily receiving people, and El Paso has more capacity, there’s no need to enact emergency measures, which could include building a temporary shelter at the Doña Ana fairgrounds.

“Right now, there are no indicators that the capacity for processing in El Paso will be overwhelmed,” Lopez said.

Lopez said he is in contact sometimes daily or weekly with emergency officials in El Paso, and federal agencies.

El Paso officials at the Office of Emergency Management did not respond to requests for comment.

The federal government made assurances in recent meetings that people were not just going to be dropped off in area cities, such as Deming or Las Cruces, said Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart.

Stewart echoed the sentiment that El Paso nonprofits are expected to provide the services to people crossing the border.

“We believe the NGO setup in El Paso will handle this quite well,” Stewart said.

This story was produced by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://sourcenm.com/2023/05/11/waiting-on-the-day-before-title-42-ends/">Source NM</a>, an affiliate of States Newsroom.

<figure>
 <img src="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/CB_Gate42-8819-1024x683.jpg" alt="- A woman cries as she is allowed through Gate 42 after days of waiting on the south side of the border wall to be accepted for processing. (Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM)" />
 <figcaption>- A woman cries as she is allowed through Gate 42 after days of waiting on the south side of the border wall to be accepted for processing. (Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM)</figcaption>
 </figure>By Danielle Prokop <a href="https://sourcenm.com/2023/05/11/waiting-on-the-day-before-title-42-ends/">Source NM</a>&nbsp;an affiliate of&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/02/17/state-ag-officials-push-for-on-time-farm-bill-to-fund-slew-of-programs/">States Newsroom</a>EL PASO — Under the shadow of Gate 42, Elizabeth Ramirez repeated “I didn’t want it to be like this,” as she crossed over the Rio Grande, low and sluggish over algae.She was one of a group of two dozen people surrendering to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on Wednesday. The people crossing would say where they were from – Colombia, Peru, Venezuela – children waved, people threw thumbs up or made hearts with their hands to the cameras and members of the media.Ramirez walked nearly last, crying. She said that coming to the U.S. was a shared dream, between herself and her 13-year old daughter. She told reporters that her daughter was killed in Hermosillo, Sonora, where Ramirez was from.“I’m holding her right here,” she said, carrying her daughter’s ashes in a bag to the bus waiting below the embankment.Ramirez is one of the thousands of people to surrender to the border patrol in recent days, as a massive shift in immigration policy looms on the U.S. Southern border.<figure>
 <img src="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/CB_Gate42-8889-scaled.jpg" alt="-Elizabeth Ramirez weeps as she tells how her 13-year-old daughter was murdered in their home state of Sonora, Mexico. Ramirez carried the ashes of her daughter into the United States on Wednesday. (Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM)" />
 <figcaption>-Elizabeth Ramirez weeps as she tells how her 13-year-old daughter was murdered in their home state of Sonora, Mexico. Ramirez carried the ashes of her daughter into the United States on Wednesday. (Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM)</figcaption>
 </figure>Title 42, a policy enacted in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, ends midnight Eastern time on May 11, expiring with the federal emergency order. It refers to a section in a 1994 public health law that allows curbing migration in the name of public health. Initially ordered under the Trump administration, it continued under President Biden.The policy allowed authorities to immediately expel people seeking asylum at the border into Mexico, or to their country of origin, billing it as a way to limit the spread of the coronavirus. National medical experts joined with human rights groups to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://phr.org/news/title-42-has-no-basis-in-public-health-amicus-asylum-seekers/">object</a>&nbsp;to the policy, saying it has no basis in public health.Over three years, authorities expelled people more than&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/nationwide-encounters">2.8 million times</a>. Unaccompanied children were exempt from the rule.<figure>
 <img src="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/CB_Gate42-8763-scaled.jpg" alt="-A Texas National Guardsman observes as Border Patrol agents pat down migrants who have surrendered themselves for processing at Gate 42, some after waiting near the wall for days, May 10, 2023. (Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM)" />
 <figcaption>-A Texas National Guardsman observes as Border Patrol agents pat down migrants who have surrendered themselves for processing at Gate 42, some after waiting near the wall for days, May 10, 2023. (Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM)</figcaption>
 </figure>After the policy expires, the U.S. returns to federal immigration code Title 8, which restarts the legal processes to remove or deport people from the United States for entering the country illegally. Seeking asylum, like what Ramirez others are attempting, in the United States is a legal method of entering the country.Customs and Border Patrol Agent Fidel Baca called the return to Title 8 a return to normalcy.“We’ll be seeing an implementation of consequences for entering illegally,” he said. The consequences can be steep including a five-year ban on reentry and the possibility for prosecution for repeated attempts.CBP agents at Gate 42 estimated that between 1,500 to 2,000 people were expected to enter Wednesday. More than 300 people were waiting to turn themselves into border patrol agents at 6:30 a.m.Thousands of people have been sleeping on the streets of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez in recent weeks. In that time, people have been making the crossing. Tensions are high between migrants and authorities after a detention center fire in Juárez caused the deaths of 40 people&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2023/04/12/juarez-fire-migrants-lost-keys-mexico-immigration-venezuela-honduras/70082344007/">left behind locked</a>&nbsp;doors by guards.<figure>
 <img src="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/CB_MigrantsElPaso-8923-scaled.jpg" alt="-David, left, and Anthony, both migrants from Venezuela, show the papers that contain their respective court dates after being released from Border Patrol custody. Their next challenge is finding the money to travel on to their destinations in Denver and New York. (Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM)" />
 <figcaption>-David, left, and Anthony, both migrants from Venezuela, show the papers that contain their respective court dates after being released from Border Patrol custody. Their next challenge is finding the money to travel on to their destinations in Denver and New York. (Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM)</figcaption>
 </figure>Area shelters have been serving higher numbers of people since August 2022, organizers said, and that they’re focused on maintaining day-to-day operations“We are just trying to keep our shelter open and care for people,” Father Rafael Garcia told&nbsp;Source NM&nbsp;in a sidewalk interview before the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.The city announced a plan last week to open&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2023/04/12/juarez-fire-migrants-lost-keys-mexico-immigration-venezuela-honduras/70082344007/">temporary shelters</a>&nbsp;at vacant schools. Three Texas border cities – El Paso, along with Brownsville and Laredo&nbsp; – declared a state of emergency in the lead up to Title 42’s expiration.<h2>Lessons from 2019</h2>Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima said local groups and officials made policy changes around people entering the country after hundreds of people were essentially stranded in towns near the border.In 2019, the Department of Homeland Security dropped off&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2019/04/18/more-than-1-000-migrants-have-now-been-dropped-off-las-cruces/3513372002/">more than 1,000 people</a>&nbsp;and the city was partially involved in sheltering them. Now that responsibility lies with local nonprofits, he said such as El Calavario United Methodist Church or Border Servant Corps.“For the most part, they have replaced the city and the county in taking care of migrants,” Miyagishima said.<figure>
 <img src="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/CB_Gate42-0232-scaled.jpg" alt="-Border Patrol agents escort a group of men through Gate 42 for processing, May 10, 2023. (Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM)" />
 <figcaption>-Border Patrol agents escort a group of men through Gate 42 for processing, May 10, 2023. (Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM)</figcaption>
 </figure>A lot has changed in intervening years, said El Calavario Pastor George Miller in a phone interview, saying that people from all over the world, not just Central and South America, need accommodations.He said the nonprofit now receives some reimbursement for shelter and food from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and appliances from parent organization Church World Services, rather than purely through donations.El Calavario&nbsp; allows people to stay overnight and for two days, offers food, clothing and arrangements for transportation to meet with family or other sponsors. Staff includes legal advisor and a social worker.The capacity for the shelter is 50 to 60 people a day, five days a week. While the numbers fluctuate, the past week immigration authorities brought five busloads, totaling about 250 people.“Everybody is anticipating that we are going to probably be at full capacity for over the next month or two,” Miller said.Border Servant Corps did not respond to requests for comment.Local nonprofits are not driving the emergency plan, said Stephen Lopez, the emergency manager for Doña Ana and Las Cruces.Since he said the shelters in Las Cruces are voluntarily receiving people, and El Paso has more capacity, there’s no need to enact emergency measures, which could include building a temporary shelter at the Doña Ana fairgrounds.“Right now, there are no indicators that the capacity for processing in El Paso will be overwhelmed,” Lopez said.Lopez said he is in contact sometimes daily or weekly with emergency officials in El Paso, and federal agencies.<figure>
 <img src="https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/CB_MigrantsElPaso-06-scaled.jpg" alt="Dianyelys Navarro, 19, holds her French bulldog, Maggie, in a shelter for migrants near downtown El Paso on May 10. Navarro, who is from Venezuela, brought Maggie all the way to the U.S.-Mexico border from South America and is now waiting for her brother to be processed by Border Patrol. (Photo by Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM)" />
 <figcaption>Dianyelys Navarro, 19, holds her French bulldog, Maggie, in a shelter for migrants near downtown El Paso on May 10. Navarro, who is from Venezuela, brought Maggie all the way to the U.S.-Mexico border from South America and is now waiting for her brother to be processed by Border Patrol. (Photo by Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM)</figcaption>
 </figure>El Paso officials at the Office of Emergency Management did not respond to requests for comment.The federal government made assurances in recent meetings that people were not just going to be dropped off in area cities, such as Deming or Las Cruces, said Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart.Stewart echoed the sentiment that El Paso nonprofits are expected to provide the services to people crossing the border.“We believe the NGO setup in El Paso will handle this quite well,” Stewart said.This story was produced by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://sourcenm.com/2023/05/11/waiting-on-the-day-before-title-42-ends/">Source NM</a>, an affiliate of States Newsroom.

Thousands surrender to Border Patrol as Title 42 ends

SEDGWICK COUNTY—One person died in an accident just after 10:30p.m. Thursday in Sedgwick County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2019 Kawasaki motorcycle driven by Ryan C. Tholen, 33, Wichita, was southbound on Interstate 235 at a high rate of speed in the left lane that is reduced to one lane due to a 50 mph construction zone. 

The driver swerved into the closed right lane and struck a cut out section in the road.&nbsp; The driver lost control of the motorcycle when he struck a second cut out section just north of Kellogg. The driver was ejected.

The vehicle and driver came to rest in the closed right lane. EMS transported Tholen to a Wichita hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

SEDGWICK COUNTY—One person died in an accident just after 10:30p.m. Thursday in Sedgwick County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2019 Kawasaki motorcycle driven by Ryan C. Tholen, 33, Wichita, was southbound on Interstate 235 at a high rate of speed in the left lane that is reduced to one lane due to a 50 mph construction zone. The driver swerved into the closed right lane and struck a cut out section in the road.&nbsp; The driver lost control of the motorcycle when he struck a second cut out section just north of Kellogg. The driver was ejected.The vehicle and driver came to rest in the closed right lane. EMS transported Tholen to a Wichita hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

Kansas man dies after motorcycle crash in construction zone

WYANDOTTE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities investigating a homicide at a Kansas home have identified the man who died as 56-year-old Alonzo E. Mosley of Kansas City, Kansas.

Just before 2p.m. Tuesday, police responded to report of a shooting in the 2200 Block of North 56th Terrace, according to a media release. Officers found Mosley inside the home. He had been struck by gunfire. First responders attempted life saving measures but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police released no suspect information and have not reported an arrest.

WYANDOTTE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities investigating a homicide at a Kansas home have identified the man who died as 56-year-old Alonzo E. Mosley of Kansas City, Kansas.Just before 2p.m. Tuesday, police responded to report of a shooting in the 2200 Block of North 56th Terrace, according to a media release. Officers found Mosley inside the home. He had been struck by gunfire. First responders attempted life saving measures but he was pronounced dead at the scene.Police released no suspect information and have not reported an arrest.

Police ID man who died in shooting at Kansas home

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former Kansas lawmaker who was convicted of 12 felonies for lying on applications for federal COVID-19 relief was sentenced Thursday to two years and three months in prison, according to online court records.

An attorney for former Republican state Rep. Michael Capps argued for probation in court documents, citing Capps’ Air Force service in a combat zone. But prosecutors asked for a sentence of four years and three months in prison, arguing in court documents that he “continues to show neither remorse nor contrition" over stealing nearly $500,000 in funds meant to help businesses remain afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to the prison time, U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren sentenced Capps to two years of supervised release, and he ordered him to pay more than a half-million dollars in restitution and the forfeiture of illegal proceeds, The Wichita Eagle reported.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-wichita-fraud-fc1c773c3abcc88eac1fe4a6f2f410aa">A jury convicted</a>&nbsp;the 45-year-old former lawmaker in December of four counts of wire fraud, four counts of money laundering, three counts of making false statements on loan applications and one count of bank fraud. The jury acquitted him of six charges, and another charge was dismissed before his trial.

Capps served a single term in the Kansas House in 2019-20 and lost his 2020 Republican primary race.

Prosecutors said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-small-business-kansas-wichita-fded927c30985c9c0b8c8a586d66423a">Capps filed forms inflating</a>&nbsp;the number of employees he had at two businesses and a sports foundation, then applied for loans to pay the nonexistent employees.

In a court filing ahead of Thursday's hearing, Capps' attorney Kurt Kerns described Capps as a “single father and disabled American veteran who has no criminal history” and called for a sentence of five years of probation.

Capps served in the Air Force in Afghanistan and Pakistan for nearly seven months in 2001-02 under “harsh and dangerous combat conditions” and received multiple decorations, the defense filing said. Capps was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2018, the filing said, and the condition makes people more likely to engage in risky behavior.

The defense filing also said Capps suffers from medical problems such as high blood pressure and would be “at a higher risk of death or serious illness” if he contracts COVID-19, which is more likely in prison.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gordon argued in the prosecutors' sentencing memo that Capps had engaged in “goal-oriented deceit," using fake payroll numbers, employment data and revenue figures in filling out loan applications.

“This Court should reject the defendant's continued efforts to avoid responsibility, which signal his likelihood to persist in similar conduct in the future,” Gordon wrote.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1581011016098.png" alt="Rep. Michael Capps" />
 <figcaption>Rep. Michael Capps</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former Kansas lawmaker who was convicted of 12 felonies for lying on applications for federal COVID-19 relief was sentenced Thursday to two years and three months in prison, according to online court records.An attorney for former Republican state Rep. Michael Capps argued for probation in court documents, citing Capps’ Air Force service in a combat zone. But prosecutors asked for a sentence of four years and three months in prison, arguing in court documents that he “continues to show neither remorse nor contrition" over stealing nearly $500,000 in funds meant to help businesses remain afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.In addition to the prison time, U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren sentenced Capps to two years of supervised release, and he ordered him to pay more than a half-million dollars in restitution and the forfeiture of illegal proceeds, The Wichita Eagle reported.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-wichita-fraud-fc1c773c3abcc88eac1fe4a6f2f410aa">A jury convicted</a>&nbsp;the 45-year-old former lawmaker in December of four counts of wire fraud, four counts of money laundering, three counts of making false statements on loan applications and one count of bank fraud. The jury acquitted him of six charges, and another charge was dismissed before his trial.Capps served a single term in the Kansas House in 2019-20 and lost his 2020 Republican primary race.Prosecutors said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-small-business-kansas-wichita-fded927c30985c9c0b8c8a586d66423a">Capps filed forms inflating</a>&nbsp;the number of employees he had at two businesses and a sports foundation, then applied for loans to pay the nonexistent employees.In a court filing ahead of Thursday's hearing, Capps' attorney Kurt Kerns described Capps as a “single father and disabled American veteran who has no criminal history” and called for a sentence of five years of probation.Capps served in the Air Force in Afghanistan and Pakistan for nearly seven months in 2001-02 under “harsh and dangerous combat conditions” and received multiple decorations, the defense filing said. Capps was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2018, the filing said, and the condition makes people more likely to engage in risky behavior.The defense filing also said Capps suffers from medical problems such as high blood pressure and would be “at a higher risk of death or serious illness” if he contracts COVID-19, which is more likely in prison.But Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gordon argued in the prosecutors' sentencing memo that Capps had engaged in “goal-oriented deceit," using fake payroll numbers, employment data and revenue figures in filling out loan applications.“This Court should reject the defendant's continued efforts to avoid responsibility, which signal his likelihood to persist in similar conduct in the future,” Gordon wrote.

Ex-Kan. legislator going to prison for COVID relief fraud 

FINNEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a series of auto thefts&nbsp; and have made an arrest.

Just after 10:30 p.m., May 7, police were dispatched to 4101 E. Highway 50 in Garden City for an auto theft that just occurred. The reporting party told officers they were followed home by a pickup, and an occupant of the pickup stole their vehicle.

On Tuesday, police located the stolen vehicle in the 500 block of Chesterfield Drive in Garden City. Investigators checked the area and located the pickup involved in the auto theft the night before. 

Investigators learned the pickup was also stolen and identified 21-year-old Jose Razo as the suspect. Police later found Razo hiding in a garage in the 500 block of Eugene Place. 

After a brief struggle, Razo was taken into custody. He is being held on requested charges of Auto Theft, Five Counts of Auto Burglary,&nbsp; Possession of Stolen Property, Interference LEO, Criminal Trespass. The Finney County Sheriff’s Office and Kansas Highway Patrol assisted in the arrest.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1683726114701.png" alt="Razo-photo Finney Co." />
 <figcaption>Razo-photo Finney Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>FINNEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a series of auto thefts&nbsp; and have made an arrest.Just after 10:30 p.m., May 7, police were dispatched to 4101 E. Highway 50 in Garden City for an auto theft that just occurred. The reporting party told officers they were followed home by a pickup, and an occupant of the pickup stole their vehicle.On Tuesday, police located the stolen vehicle in the 500 block of Chesterfield Drive in Garden City. Investigators checked the area and located the pickup involved in the auto theft the night before. Investigators learned the pickup was also stolen and identified 21-year-old Jose Razo as the suspect. Police later found Razo hiding in a garage in the 500 block of Eugene Place. After a brief struggle, Razo was taken into custody. He is being held on requested charges of Auto Theft, Five Counts of Auto Burglary,&nbsp; Possession of Stolen Property, Interference LEO, Criminal Trespass. The Finney County Sheriff’s Office and Kansas Highway Patrol assisted in the arrest.

Police find alleged SW Kansas auto theft suspect hiding in garage

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and have made an arrest with the help of citizens near the scene.

Just 7:00 pm. on Wednesday, police were dispatched to report of a shooting in the area of Rutan and Sunnybrook in Wichita, according to Officer&nbsp;Kristopher Gupilan.

First responders located 31-year-old Chance Martin who had suffered a gunshot wound to the upper body. Officers began life saving measures. Martin was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased, according to Gupilan.

The investigation revealed that 24-year-old Angel Lara and another individual had an altercation with Martin which led to Lara brandishing a gun and shooting Martin. Witnesses on scene provided information on Lara’s vehicle.&nbsp; The information and the&nbsp;FLOCK system, allowed police to locate Lara's vehicle in the 900 block of W. 47th Street South in Wichita.

Officers took him into custody without incident. He is being held on a requested charge of 2nd degree murder.

This investigation would not have been solved so quickly without the help of the vigilant citizens on scene, according to Gupilan.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1683821359235.png" alt="This blurry booking photo is the only one available early Thursday from Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>This blurry booking photo is the only one available early Thursday from Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and have made an arrest with the help of citizens near the scene.Just 7:00 pm. on Wednesday, police were dispatched to report of a shooting in the area of Rutan and Sunnybrook in Wichita, according to Officer&nbsp;Kristopher Gupilan.First responders located 31-year-old Chance Martin who had suffered a gunshot wound to the upper body. Officers began life saving measures. Martin was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased, according to Gupilan.The investigation revealed that 24-year-old Angel Lara and another individual had an altercation with Martin which led to Lara brandishing a gun and shooting Martin. Witnesses on scene provided information on Lara’s vehicle.&nbsp; The information and the&nbsp;FLOCK system, allowed police to locate Lara's vehicle in the 900 block of W. 47th Street South in Wichita.Officers took him into custody without incident. He is being held on a requested charge of 2nd degree murder.This investigation would not have been solved so quickly without the help of the vigilant citizens on scene, according to Gupilan.

Police: Witnesses on scene led to Kansas murder arrest

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans passed a sweeping bill Thursday to build more U.S.-Mexico border wall and impose new restrictions on asylum seekers, creating a hard-line counter to President Joe Biden's policies just as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-border-title-42-mexico-asylum-8c239766c2cb6e257c0220413b8e9cf9">migrants are amassing along the border</a>&nbsp;with the end of coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

The bill has virtually no chance of becoming law. Democrats, who have a narrow hold on the Senate, have decried the aggressive measures in the bill as “cruel” and “anti-immigrant," and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-border-security-immigration-biden-d62168665ba1581fc75651abc0409071">Biden has already promised</a>&nbsp;he would veto it.

The legislation passed 219-213, with all present Democrats and two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and John Duarte of California, voting against it.

The House GOP pointedly voted on the bill the same day as the expiration of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-biden-border-title-42-mexico-asylum-be4e0b15b27adb9bede87b9bbefb798d">Title 42</a>, a public health emergency rule that allowed border authorities to quickly return many migrants who crossed the border illegally. Biden has conceded that the southern border will be “chaotic for a while” as migrants weigh whether to cross and U.S. officials use a new set of policies that aim to clamp down on illegal immigration while offering more legal pathways.

Republicans have sought to slam Biden for the increase in illegal immigration during his tenure. Passing the bill would ensure House GOP lawmakers can say they did their part to deliver on a campaign promise to secure the border.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called the package “the strongest border security bill this country has ever seen," saying in a speech on the House floor that "meanwhile, we are seeing a very different record from President Biden.”

It took months, however, for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-immigration-house-republicans-border-security-0e19f7f27ef15c6edd73532c3813656a">Republicans to push the bill</a>&nbsp;through the House amid sometimes public feuds between GOP lawmakers over the legislation. Even as the legislation neared final form Wednesday, it had to be amended to appease concerns from the House Freedom Caucus and other lawmakers.

The 213-page bill represents a compromise in the Republican conference between mainstream lawmakers, who wanted to focus on beefing up border enforcement, and hardline conservatives, who want to see drastic changes to U.S. asylum and immigration law.

U.S. and international law give migrants the right to seek asylum from political, religious or racial persecution, but conservatives say many people take advantage of the current system to live and work in the U.S. while they wait for their asylum claim to be processed in court.

The package would return to many of the same&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-donald-trump-us-news-ap-top-news-politics-f106b3351f6148a98f8f24c536f464ed">policies pursued by former President Donald Trump</a>, such as building walls along the border. It would also restrict asylum by requiring migrants to cross legally, pay a $50 fee and meet more stringent requirements to show in initial interviews that they have a credible fear of persecution in their home country.

“This extreme MAGA Republican piece of legislation will throw out children who are fleeing, in many cases, extreme violence and persecution," Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat, said at a Thursday news conference. “It will build a medieval border wall that is a 14th-century solution to a 21st-century problem.”

The bill would also scrap a program that has allowed U.S. officials to accept or quickly turn away some migrants from Venezuela, Haiti and Nicaragua. The program is a cornerstone of Biden’s immigration efforts, allowing migrants from those countries to apply to come to the U.S. for two years legally and work.

The unwieldy nature of immigration legislation has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-asylum-trump-biden-gang-of-eight-3d8007e72928665b66d8648be0e3e31f">befuddled Congress for decades</a>, but there is a growing conversation in the Senate on the issue.

A small group of House and Senate lawmakers hopes the House bill could give momentum for a separate package in the works that would incorporate aggressive border enforcement with expanding legal immigration through work visas, as well as potentially a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

“The bill that we’re getting, I think, is a good starting point,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican. “It, by itself, would not get 60 votes to get out of here.”

Any final bill would need bipartisan support to pass the Senate and agreement from House Republicans on significant changes.

Some House lawmakers were already raising concerns about whether agriculture businesses would be disrupted by the bill's requirement that agriculture businesses verify the immigration status of employees.

In explaining his vote against the bill, Duarte, who represents a district comprised of farmland in California's Central Valley, said in a statement that the bill would “harm many families that work in our Valley and create difficulties for our food producers.”

Massie, the other Republican to oppose the legislation, made a libertarian argument against a system that tracks people's immigration status.

Meanwhile, Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, is introducing legislation that would assist border officials and speed up the asylum application process. And Tillis joined with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona independent who accepts committee assignments from Democrats, to push a bill that would resurrect the government's power to quickly expel migrants, without processing their asylum claims, for another two years.

“It’s clear that the Biden administration, while it had two years to prepare for the end of Title 42, failed to do so,” Sinema told reporters. “And in the last several weeks, I’ve had the unfortunate job of communicating on a daily basis, sometimes even hourly basis, with the sheriffs, the Border Patrol agents, mayors and even the governor of Arizona to figure out how we can prepare to deal with this crisis.”

Biden has received countless barbs from Congress, but one Texas Republican key to immigration negotiations, Rep. Tony Gonzales, is already thinking of how to get the president on board.

“Until the president of the United States signs a bill into law, all of this is theater,” said Gonzales, who represents a large swath of border country. “A lot of people are good at political theater. Meanwhile, back in my district, we’re dealing with a real crisis.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/12/1671578098154.png" alt="Photo courtesy Rep. Tony Gonzales" />
 <figcaption>Photo courtesy Rep. Tony Gonzales</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans passed a sweeping bill Thursday to build more U.S.-Mexico border wall and impose new restrictions on asylum seekers, creating a hard-line counter to President Joe Biden's policies just as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-border-title-42-mexico-asylum-8c239766c2cb6e257c0220413b8e9cf9">migrants are amassing along the border</a>&nbsp;with the end of coronavirus pandemic restrictions.The bill has virtually no chance of becoming law. Democrats, who have a narrow hold on the Senate, have decried the aggressive measures in the bill as “cruel” and “anti-immigrant," and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-border-security-immigration-biden-d62168665ba1581fc75651abc0409071">Biden has already promised</a>&nbsp;he would veto it.The legislation passed 219-213, with all present Democrats and two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and John Duarte of California, voting against it.The House GOP pointedly voted on the bill the same day as the expiration of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-biden-border-title-42-mexico-asylum-be4e0b15b27adb9bede87b9bbefb798d">Title 42</a>, a public health emergency rule that allowed border authorities to quickly return many migrants who crossed the border illegally. Biden has conceded that the southern border will be “chaotic for a while” as migrants weigh whether to cross and U.S. officials use a new set of policies that aim to clamp down on illegal immigration while offering more legal pathways.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/SecMayorkas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecMayorkas</a>: &quot;Tonight at 11:59pm ET, the pandemic-era Title 42 public health order will end...We are clear-eyed about the challenges we are likely to face in the days and weeks ahead and we are ready to meet them.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/i57aPyNNov">pic.twitter.com/i57aPyNNov</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1656721082739466243?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Republicans have sought to slam Biden for the increase in illegal immigration during his tenure. Passing the bill would ensure House GOP lawmakers can say they did their part to deliver on a campaign promise to secure the border.House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called the package “the strongest border security bill this country has ever seen," saying in a speech on the House floor that "meanwhile, we are seeing a very different record from President Biden.”It took months, however, for&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-immigration-house-republicans-border-security-0e19f7f27ef15c6edd73532c3813656a">Republicans to push the bill</a>&nbsp;through the House amid sometimes public feuds between GOP lawmakers over the legislation. Even as the legislation neared final form Wednesday, it had to be amended to appease concerns from the House Freedom Caucus and other lawmakers.The 213-page bill represents a compromise in the Republican conference between mainstream lawmakers, who wanted to focus on beefing up border enforcement, and hardline conservatives, who want to see drastic changes to U.S. asylum and immigration law.U.S. and international law give migrants the right to seek asylum from political, religious or racial persecution, but conservatives say many people take advantage of the current system to live and work in the U.S. while they wait for their asylum claim to be processed in court.The package would return to many of the same&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-donald-trump-us-news-ap-top-news-politics-f106b3351f6148a98f8f24c536f464ed">policies pursued by former President Donald Trump</a>, such as building walls along the border. It would also restrict asylum by requiring migrants to cross legally, pay a $50 fee and meet more stringent requirements to show in initial interviews that they have a credible fear of persecution in their home country.“This extreme MAGA Republican piece of legislation will throw out children who are fleeing, in many cases, extreme violence and persecution," Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat, said at a Thursday news conference. “It will build a medieval border wall that is a 14th-century solution to a 21st-century problem.”The bill would also scrap a program that has allowed U.S. officials to accept or quickly turn away some migrants from Venezuela, Haiti and Nicaragua. The program is a cornerstone of Biden’s immigration efforts, allowing migrants from those countries to apply to come to the U.S. for two years legally and work.The unwieldy nature of immigration legislation has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-asylum-trump-biden-gang-of-eight-3d8007e72928665b66d8648be0e3e31f">befuddled Congress for decades</a>, but there is a growing conversation in the Senate on the issue.A small group of House and Senate lawmakers hopes the House bill could give momentum for a separate package in the works that would incorporate aggressive border enforcement with expanding legal immigration through work visas, as well as potentially a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.“The bill that we’re getting, I think, is a good starting point,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican. “It, by itself, would not get 60 votes to get out of here.”Any final bill would need bipartisan support to pass the Senate and agreement from House Republicans on significant changes.Some House lawmakers were already raising concerns about whether agriculture businesses would be disrupted by the bill's requirement that agriculture businesses verify the immigration status of employees.In explaining his vote against the bill, Duarte, who represents a district comprised of farmland in California's Central Valley, said in a statement that the bill would “harm many families that work in our Valley and create difficulties for our food producers.”Massie, the other Republican to oppose the legislation, made a libertarian argument against a system that tracks people's immigration status.Meanwhile, Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, is introducing legislation that would assist border officials and speed up the asylum application process. And Tillis joined with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona independent who accepts committee assignments from Democrats, to push a bill that would resurrect the government's power to quickly expel migrants, without processing their asylum claims, for another two years.“It’s clear that the Biden administration, while it had two years to prepare for the end of Title 42, failed to do so,” Sinema told reporters. “And in the last several weeks, I’ve had the unfortunate job of communicating on a daily basis, sometimes even hourly basis, with the sheriffs, the Border Patrol agents, mayors and even the governor of Arizona to figure out how we can prepare to deal with this crisis.”Biden has received countless barbs from Congress, but one Texas Republican key to immigration negotiations, Rep. Tony Gonzales, is already thinking of how to get the president on board.“Until the president of the United States signs a bill into law, all of this is theater,” said Gonzales, who represents a large swath of border country. “A lot of people are good at political theater. Meanwhile, back in my district, we’re dealing with a real crisis.”----------

House Republicans pass new asylum restrictions as Title 42 ends

TOPEKA – Garrett T. Love, Montezuma, is among four members elected to four-year terms on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS) Board of Directors at its annual meeting Thursday in Topeka. 

Leonard R. Hernandez, El Dorado; Rick C. Jackson, Topeka; and James A. Klausman, Topeka, were re-elected to their third four-year terms.

Love is a farmer and owns Love Land &amp; Cattle, LLC. Hernandez recently retired as president &amp; CEO of Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital. Jackson is executive vice president, chief lending officer at Capital Federal Savings. Klausman is president and CEO of Midwest Health.

One long-time board member retired in conjunction with the annual meeting. Kenneth W. Winter, general manager at Lariat Feeders LLC, joined the board in 2007.

In addition to the election of the board members, Rick C. Jackson, Topeka, was elected to a one-year term as chair of the board of directors and Megan L. Jones, Topeka, was elected to a one-year term as vice chair.

Jackson, executive vice president and chief lending officer of Capitol Federal Savings, joined the BCBSKS board in 2015. Jones, owner and president of Jones Advisory Group, has served on the board since 2016.

Other members of the board are Matthew D. All, Topeka; Rick D. Baden, Pittsburg; Gregory V. Binns, Hutchinson; Dr. James H. Gilbaugh, Wichita; Amanda D. Huelskamp, Andover; Jena K. Lysen, Wichita; Jeff D. Mullen, Wichita; Jeffrey R. Thompson, Salina; and Dr. Angela N. Wilson, Lawrence.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1683837268471.jpeg" alt="Garrett Love. Photo courtesy BCBSKS" />
 <figcaption>Garrett Love. Photo courtesy BCBSKS</figcaption>
 </figure>BCBSKSTOPEKA – Garrett T. Love, Montezuma, is among four members elected to four-year terms on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS) Board of Directors at its annual meeting Thursday in Topeka. Leonard R. Hernandez, El Dorado; Rick C. Jackson, Topeka; and James A. Klausman, Topeka, were re-elected to their third four-year terms.Love is a farmer and owns Love Land &amp; Cattle, LLC. Hernandez recently retired as president &amp; CEO of Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital. Jackson is executive vice president, chief lending officer at Capital Federal Savings. Klausman is president and CEO of Midwest Health.One long-time board member retired in conjunction with the annual meeting. Kenneth W. Winter, general manager at Lariat Feeders LLC, joined the board in 2007.In addition to the election of the board members, Rick C. Jackson, Topeka, was elected to a one-year term as chair of the board of directors and Megan L. Jones, Topeka, was elected to a one-year term as vice chair.Jackson, executive vice president and chief lending officer of Capitol Federal Savings, joined the BCBSKS board in 2015. Jones, owner and president of Jones Advisory Group, has served on the board since 2016.Other members of the board are Matthew D. All, Topeka; Rick D. Baden, Pittsburg; Gregory V. Binns, Hutchinson; Dr. James H. Gilbaugh, Wichita; Amanda D. Huelskamp, Andover; Jena K. Lysen, Wichita; Jeff D. Mullen, Wichita; Jeffrey R. Thompson, Salina; and Dr. Angela N. Wilson, Lawrence.

Love elected to BCBSKS Board of Directors

SHAWNEE, Ks. (AP) — A Kansas City suburb's rule prohibiting more than three unrelated roommates from living together is being challenged in court.

A property management company that wants to be able to rent homes to several roommates and a homeowner who said that Shawnee's ban made her living arrangement illegal last year because her son's girlfriend was living with the family at the time filed the lawsuit.

The rule that Shawnee passed last year prohibits more than three unrelated people from living together in a single residence. The only exception for more people living together is if they are all related. If even one person in a home isn't related to everyone else in the household, the city considers everyone in the household to be unrelated.

“As Americans, who we choose to live with is none of the government’s business,” David Deerson, attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, said in a news release. “There is a serious housing affordability crisis and Shawnee is making it worse. This unconstitutional ordinance would even outlaw the living arrangement of television’s ‘Golden Girls.’ ”

City officials declined to comment on the lawsuit and said they haven’t yet received a copy of it.

But when Shawnee approved the ban last year, officials said they were trying to eliminate situations where homeowners were treating their homes like apartment buildings and renting rooms to several people.

Critics of the ban said the rule just made it harder for people to afford to live in the upscale suburb.

The company that filed the lawsuit, HomeRoom Inc., said it tries to make housing more affordable by renting homes to people who want to be roommates. After the ban passed, the company said it had to evict some of its tenants at the two homes it owns in Shawnee.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1683822717022.png" alt="Apartments in the 7400 Block of Flint Street in Shawnee-Google image" />
 <figcaption>Apartments in the 7400 Block of Flint Street in Shawnee-Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE, Ks. (AP) — A Kansas City suburb's rule prohibiting more than three unrelated roommates from living together is being challenged in court.A property management company that wants to be able to rent homes to several roommates and a homeowner who said that Shawnee's ban made her living arrangement illegal last year because her son's girlfriend was living with the family at the time filed the lawsuit.The rule that Shawnee passed last year prohibits more than three unrelated people from living together in a single residence. The only exception for more people living together is if they are all related. If even one person in a home isn't related to everyone else in the household, the city considers everyone in the household to be unrelated.“As Americans, who we choose to live with is none of the government’s business,” David Deerson, attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, said in a news release. “There is a serious housing affordability crisis and Shawnee is making it worse. This unconstitutional ordinance would even outlaw the living arrangement of television’s ‘Golden Girls.’ ”City officials declined to comment on the lawsuit and said they haven’t yet received a copy of it.But when Shawnee approved the ban last year, officials said they were trying to eliminate situations where homeowners were treating their homes like apartment buildings and renting rooms to several people.Critics of the ban said the rule just made it harder for people to afford to live in the upscale suburb.The company that filed the lawsuit, HomeRoom Inc., said it tries to make housing more affordable by renting homes to people who want to be roommates. After the ban passed, the company said it had to evict some of its tenants at the two homes it owns in Shawnee.

Kan. community's ban on more than three roommates challenged in court

SHAWNEE&nbsp;– On Thursday, Governor Laura Kelly joined legislators and advocates in Shawnee today to sign&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDEsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsInVybCI6Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cua3NsZWdpc2xhdHVyZS5vcmcvbGkvYjIwMjNfMjQvbWVhc3VyZXMvc2IxNzQvIiwiYnVsbGV0aW5faWQiOiIyMDIzMDUxMS43NjU4NjE5MSJ9.woHvsokzMWVCnMnJZei99ZJZxMu7-JYJQoC0AJtcMGs/s/1303160919/br/186207588728-l" target="_blank">Senate Bill 174</a>, a bipartisan bill that decriminalizes fentanyl test strips. Decriminalizing test strips, which can detect the presence of fentanyl in other substances, will help prevent overdose deaths in Kansas, according to a media release from her office.

“Overdoses caused by fentanyl have devastated communities across Kansas and the nation,”&nbsp;Governor Kelly said.&nbsp;“By decriminalizing fentanyl test strips, we are providing the resources needed to combat the opioid and fentanyl epidemic so that families and loved ones no longer have to feel the pain of a preventable death.”&nbsp;

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 100,000 people died in 2021 from a drug overdose, the most ever recorded in a single year in U.S. history.&nbsp;

2023 marks the third year a bill has been introduced in the Kansas Legislature to decriminalize fentanyl test strips. In 2022, the bill passed unanimously in the House but stalled in the Senate. This legislation has continuously had support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.&nbsp;

“Today, with the signing of SB 174, Kansas is putting into action the values of kindness, compassion, and love for our neighbors,”&nbsp;Representative Jason Probst said (D-Hutchinson).&nbsp;“By decriminalizing fentanyl testing strips, we are helping Kansans protect themselves from a deadly poison that has taken far too many lives – including the tragic and profoundly painful loss of far too many teenagers and young adults in our state.”&nbsp;

“The fentanyl epidemic is devastating our communities. Senate Bill 174 represents our first steps in working together to fight this terrible drug,”&nbsp;Rep. Stephen Owens (R-Hesston) said.&nbsp;“I am proud to stand with Governor Kelly as we continue to work together to save lives.”&nbsp;

Governor Kelly has also taken other measures to help prevent drug overdoses in Kansas. She has made historic investments to give law enforcement the resources to seek out criminals pushing illegal drugs on children. She has also given schools the funding the need to have naloxone on hand.&nbsp;

SB 174 also increases criminal penalties for manufacturing or distributing fentanyl and for committing battery against a healthcare provider.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Kansans looking for substance use treatment and recovery services are encouraged to use state services available&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDIsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8va2RhZHMua3MuZ292L2tkYWRzLWNvbW1pc3Npb25zL2JlaGF2aW9yYWwtaGVhbHRoL3NlcnZpY2VzLWFuZC1wcm9ncmFtcy9zdWJzdGFuY2UtdXNlLWRpc29yZGVyLXRyZWF0bWVudC1zZXJ2aWNlcyIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMzA1MTEuNzY1ODYxOTEifQ.BNO1JUyWJAX9xLeBWLTHULya483w2-0ZXw1HOdwlMRo/s/1303160919/br/186207588728-l" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1683827668959.png" alt="According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 100,000 people died in 2021 from a drug overdose, the most ever recorded in a single year in U.S. history.- courtesy photo&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 100,000 people died in 2021 from a drug overdose, the most ever recorded in a single year in U.S. history.- courtesy photo&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE&nbsp;– On Thursday, Governor Laura Kelly joined legislators and advocates in Shawnee today to sign&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDEsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsInVybCI6Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cua3NsZWdpc2xhdHVyZS5vcmcvbGkvYjIwMjNfMjQvbWVhc3VyZXMvc2IxNzQvIiwiYnVsbGV0aW5faWQiOiIyMDIzMDUxMS43NjU4NjE5MSJ9.woHvsokzMWVCnMnJZei99ZJZxMu7-JYJQoC0AJtcMGs/s/1303160919/br/186207588728-l" target="_blank">Senate Bill 174</a>, a bipartisan bill that decriminalizes fentanyl test strips. Decriminalizing test strips, which can detect the presence of fentanyl in other substances, will help prevent overdose deaths in Kansas, according to a media release from her office.“Overdoses caused by fentanyl have devastated communities across Kansas and the nation,”&nbsp;Governor Kelly said.&nbsp;“By decriminalizing fentanyl test strips, we are providing the resources needed to combat the opioid and fentanyl epidemic so that families and loved ones no longer have to feel the pain of a preventable death.”&nbsp;According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 100,000 people died in 2021 from a drug overdose, the most ever recorded in a single year in U.S. history.&nbsp;2023 marks the third year a bill has been introduced in the Kansas Legislature to decriminalize fentanyl test strips. In 2022, the bill passed unanimously in the House but stalled in the Senate. This legislation has continuously had support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.&nbsp;“Today, with the signing of SB 174, Kansas is putting into action the values of kindness, compassion, and love for our neighbors,”&nbsp;Representative Jason Probst said (D-Hutchinson).&nbsp;“By decriminalizing fentanyl testing strips, we are helping Kansans protect themselves from a deadly poison that has taken far too many lives – including the tragic and profoundly painful loss of far too many teenagers and young adults in our state.”&nbsp;“The fentanyl epidemic is devastating our communities. Senate Bill 174 represents our first steps in working together to fight this terrible drug,”&nbsp;Rep. Stephen Owens (R-Hesston) said.&nbsp;“I am proud to stand with Governor Kelly as we continue to work together to save lives.”&nbsp;Governor Kelly has also taken other measures to help prevent drug overdoses in Kansas. She has made historic investments to give law enforcement the resources to seek out criminals pushing illegal drugs on children. She has also given schools the funding the need to have naloxone on hand.&nbsp;SB 174 also increases criminal penalties for manufacturing or distributing fentanyl and for committing battery against a healthcare provider.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kansans looking for substance use treatment and recovery services are encouraged to use state services available&nbsp;<a href="https://lnks.gd/l/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJidWxsZXRpbl9saW5rX2lkIjoxMDIsInVyaSI6ImJwMjpjbGljayIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8va2RhZHMua3MuZ292L2tkYWRzLWNvbW1pc3Npb25zL2JlaGF2aW9yYWwtaGVhbHRoL3NlcnZpY2VzLWFuZC1wcm9ncmFtcy9zdWJzdGFuY2UtdXNlLWRpc29yZGVyLXRyZWF0bWVudC1zZXJ2aWNlcyIsImJ1bGxldGluX2lkIjoiMjAyMzA1MTEuNzY1ODYxOTEifQ.BNO1JUyWJAX9xLeBWLTHULya483w2-0ZXw1HOdwlMRo/s/1303160919/br/186207588728-l" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp;

Gov. signs bill to decriminalize fentanyl test strips in Kansas

WASHINGTON (AP) —Peloton is recalling more than 2 million of its exercise bikes because the bike’s seat post assembly can break during use, posing fall and injury hazards.

<a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2023/Peloton-Recalls-Two-Million-Exercise-Bikes-Due-to-Fall-and-Injury-Hazards">Click here to read </a>the recall from the CPSC

The recall includes approximately 2.2 million of the Peloton Bikes Model PL01. The bikes were sold from January 2018 through May 2023 for about $1,400. They were sold at Peloton and Dick’s Sporting Goods stores nationwide and online at Amazon, Peloton and Dick's websites.

Peloton has received 35 reports of the seat post breaking and detaching from the bike during use, including 13 reports of injuries including a fractured wrist, lacerations and bruises due to falling from the bike.

Consumers are advised to immediately stop using the recalled exercise bikes and to contact Peloton for a free repair. Peloton is offering a free seat post that can be self-installed.

Peloton can be reached at 866-679-9129 from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. ET, seven days a week or online at www.onepeloton.com. Consumers can click on Product Recalls at the bottom of the Peloton website page for information on how to request the free seat post and instructions for installation.

Peloton has been in the process of a corporate reorganization. In October the company announced it was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-peloton-interactive-inc-61dfbe60d797ce293e104fbe2aa4cfce">cutting</a>&nbsp;about 500 jobs. That announcement came after the company said in August that it would cut 784 jobs, close its North America distribution network and shift delivery work to third-party providers.

Peloton experienced incredible sales growth during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The New York-based company’s share price multiplied by more than five times in 2020 amid lockdowns that made its bikes and treadmills popular among customers who pay a monthly fee to participate in its interactive workouts.

But sales began to slow in 2021 as the distribution of vaccines drew many people out of their homes and back into gyms.

Shares of Peloton Interactive Inc. fell more than 6% in Thursday morning trading.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1683820965874.png" alt="Peleton -photo Consumer Product Safety Commission" />
 <figcaption>Peleton -photo Consumer Product Safety Commission</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —Peloton is recalling more than 2 million of its exercise bikes because the bike’s seat post assembly can break during use, posing fall and injury hazards.<a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2023/Peloton-Recalls-Two-Million-Exercise-Bikes-Due-to-Fall-and-Injury-Hazards">Click here to read </a>the recall from the CPSCThe recall includes approximately 2.2 million of the Peloton Bikes Model PL01. The bikes were sold from January 2018 through May 2023 for about $1,400. They were sold at Peloton and Dick’s Sporting Goods stores nationwide and online at Amazon, Peloton and Dick's websites.Peloton has received 35 reports of the seat post breaking and detaching from the bike during use, including 13 reports of injuries including a fractured wrist, lacerations and bruises due to falling from the bike.Consumers are advised to immediately stop using the recalled exercise bikes and to contact Peloton for a free repair. Peloton is offering a free seat post that can be self-installed.Peloton can be reached at 866-679-9129 from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. ET, seven days a week or online at www.onepeloton.com. Consumers can click on Product Recalls at the bottom of the Peloton website page for information on how to request the free seat post and instructions for installation.Peloton has been in the process of a corporate reorganization. In October the company announced it was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-peloton-interactive-inc-61dfbe60d797ce293e104fbe2aa4cfce">cutting</a>&nbsp;about 500 jobs. That announcement came after the company said in August that it would cut 784 jobs, close its North America distribution network and shift delivery work to third-party providers.Peloton experienced incredible sales growth during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The New York-based company’s share price multiplied by more than five times in 2020 amid lockdowns that made its bikes and treadmills popular among customers who pay a monthly fee to participate in its interactive workouts.But sales began to slow in 2021 as the distribution of vaccines drew many people out of their homes and back into gyms.Shares of Peloton Interactive Inc. fell more than 6% in Thursday morning trading.

Peloton is recalling more than 2 million exercise bikes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health advisers said Wednesday that a decades-old birth control pill should be sold without a prescription, paving the way for a likely U.S. approval of the first over-the-counter contraceptive medication.

The panel of FDA advisers voted unanimously in favor of drugmaker Perrigo’s request to sell its once-a-day medication over the counter. The recommendation came at the close of a two-day meeting focused on whether women could safely and effectively take the pill without professional supervision. A final FDA decision is expected this summer.

If the agency follows the nonbinding recommendation, Perrigo’s drug, Opill, would become the first contraceptive pill to be moved out from behind the pharmacy counter onto store shelves. The company said sales could begin late this year if OK'd.

The outside experts said they were mostly confident that women of all ages could use the drug appropriately without seeing a health provider first.

“In the balance between benefit and risk, we’d have a hard time justifying not taking this action," said Maria Coyle, an Ohio State University pharmacist, who chaired the panel. “The drug is incredibly effective, and I think it will be effective in the over-the-counter realm just as it is in the prescription realm."

The positive vote came despite numerous criticisms from FDA scientists about how Perrigo studied the drug, including questions about whether study participants were able to understand and follow labeling instructions.

“We have an application with many complicated issues and uncertainties, including questionable reliability,” FDA’s Dr. Pamela Horn told panelists on Tuesday.

But the panel largely set those concerns aside, emphasizing the benefits of providing more effective birth control, particularly to young people and lower-income groups, than what’s available over the counter now, like condoms and diaphragms.

Most birth control pills used in the U.S. today contain a combination of progestin and estrogen. Opill is part of an older class of contraceptives that only contain progestin. They generally have fewer side effects and health risks but can be less effective if they’re not taken around the same time daily.

FDA’s decision won’t apply to other birth control pills, only Opill, although advocates hope that an approval decision might push other drugmakers to seek over-the-counter sales. Birth control pills are available without a prescription across much of South America, Asia and Africa.

Nonprescription medicines are usually cheaper, but generally not covered by insurance. Requiring insurers to cover over-the-counter birth control would require a regulatory change by the federal government.

Opill was first approved in the U.S. five decades ago based on data showing it was more than 90% effective in preventing pregnancy when taken daily. But some women should not take it, particularly those with breast cancer, because of the risk that it could accelerate tumor growth. Women who have unusual vaginal bleeding are instructed to speak with a doctor before using it, because bleeding could indicate a serious health issue.

But in reading comprehension studies conducted by Perrigo, 68% of women with unexplained bleeding incorrectly answered they could take the drug. And a few women with breast cancer also told researchers they could use Opill.

Panel members said almost all women with a history of breast cancer would be under the care of a cancer specialist, who would advise them not to take hormonal drugs that could make their condition worse.

“I would think any woman who had a breast cancer diagnosis in the past would be highly aware of that, so I don’t think that’s going to be a concern,” said Dr. Deborah Armstrong of Johns Hopkins University.

Perrigo said its 880-patient study of the drug showed that women will consistently take the pill daily if it’s made available over-the-counter. But the FDA found several problems in the study, including more than 30% of participants who erroneously reported taking more pills than they were actually supplied. FDA reviewers said the problem called into question the company’s overall conclusions about the drug’s use and effectiveness.

FDA regulators also suggested changes in U.S. demographics since the pill was first tested — including increased obesity and other chronic conditions— could reduce the drug’s effectiveness.

Despite those concerns, Opill has the support of dozens of reproductive rights and medical groups that have long pushed for expanded access to birth control.

“Opill over the counter would give us one more option for access and the more options that are available the better,” said Clare Coleman, president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association

Coleman was one of more than 25 speakers who supported Perrigo’s application during a public comment session Tuesday.

Catholic groups, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, oppose the move, saying women should be evaluated by a doctor before getting it.

Even if the pill is approved, it’s unclear how popular it might be. Opill has not been marketed in the U.S. since 2005 and was previously owned by Pfizer. Perrigo acquired the drug with its buyout of French drugmaker HRA Pharma last year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health advisers said Wednesday that a decades-old birth control pill should be sold without a prescription, paving the way for a likely U.S. approval of the first over-the-counter contraceptive medication.The panel of FDA advisers voted unanimously in favor of drugmaker Perrigo’s request to sell its once-a-day medication over the counter. The recommendation came at the close of a two-day meeting focused on whether women could safely and effectively take the pill without professional supervision. A final FDA decision is expected this summer.If the agency follows the nonbinding recommendation, Perrigo’s drug, Opill, would become the first contraceptive pill to be moved out from behind the pharmacy counter onto store shelves. The company said sales could begin late this year if OK'd.The outside experts said they were mostly confident that women of all ages could use the drug appropriately without seeing a health provider first.“In the balance between benefit and risk, we’d have a hard time justifying not taking this action," said Maria Coyle, an Ohio State University pharmacist, who chaired the panel. “The drug is incredibly effective, and I think it will be effective in the over-the-counter realm just as it is in the prescription realm."The positive vote came despite numerous criticisms from FDA scientists about how Perrigo studied the drug, including questions about whether study participants were able to understand and follow labeling instructions.“We have an application with many complicated issues and uncertainties, including questionable reliability,” FDA’s Dr. Pamela Horn told panelists on Tuesday.But the panel largely set those concerns aside, emphasizing the benefits of providing more effective birth control, particularly to young people and lower-income groups, than what’s available over the counter now, like condoms and diaphragms.Most birth control pills used in the U.S. today contain a combination of progestin and estrogen. Opill is part of an older class of contraceptives that only contain progestin. They generally have fewer side effects and health risks but can be less effective if they’re not taken around the same time daily.FDA’s decision won’t apply to other birth control pills, only Opill, although advocates hope that an approval decision might push other drugmakers to seek over-the-counter sales. Birth control pills are available without a prescription across much of South America, Asia and Africa.Nonprescription medicines are usually cheaper, but generally not covered by insurance. Requiring insurers to cover over-the-counter birth control would require a regulatory change by the federal government.Opill was first approved in the U.S. five decades ago based on data showing it was more than 90% effective in preventing pregnancy when taken daily. But some women should not take it, particularly those with breast cancer, because of the risk that it could accelerate tumor growth. Women who have unusual vaginal bleeding are instructed to speak with a doctor before using it, because bleeding could indicate a serious health issue.But in reading comprehension studies conducted by Perrigo, 68% of women with unexplained bleeding incorrectly answered they could take the drug. And a few women with breast cancer also told researchers they could use Opill.Panel members said almost all women with a history of breast cancer would be under the care of a cancer specialist, who would advise them not to take hormonal drugs that could make their condition worse.“I would think any woman who had a breast cancer diagnosis in the past would be highly aware of that, so I don’t think that’s going to be a concern,” said Dr. Deborah Armstrong of Johns Hopkins University.Perrigo said its 880-patient study of the drug showed that women will consistently take the pill daily if it’s made available over-the-counter. But the FDA found several problems in the study, including more than 30% of participants who erroneously reported taking more pills than they were actually supplied. FDA reviewers said the problem called into question the company’s overall conclusions about the drug’s use and effectiveness.FDA regulators also suggested changes in U.S. demographics since the pill was first tested — including increased obesity and other chronic conditions— could reduce the drug’s effectiveness.Despite those concerns, Opill has the support of dozens of reproductive rights and medical groups that have long pushed for expanded access to birth control.“Opill over the counter would give us one more option for access and the more options that are available the better,” said Clare Coleman, president of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health AssociationColeman was one of more than 25 speakers who supported Perrigo’s application during a public comment session Tuesday.Catholic groups, including the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, oppose the move, saying women should be evaluated by a doctor before getting it.Even if the pill is approved, it’s unclear how popular it might be. Opill has not been marketed in the U.S. since 2005 and was previously owned by Pfizer. Perrigo acquired the drug with its buyout of French drugmaker HRA Pharma last year.___

FDA panel backs over-the-counter sales of birth control pill

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former Kansas lawmaker who was convicted of 12 felonies for lying on applications for federal COVID-19 relief is trying to avoid spending any time in prison, with his attorney citing his Air Force service in a combat zone as one reason.

But prosecutors have asked a federal judge to sentence former Republican state Rep. Michael Capps, of Wichita, to four years and three months in prison. They have argued in court documents that he “continues to show neither remorse nor contrition" over stealing nearly $500,000 in funds meant to help businesses remain afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren scheduled Capps' sentencing for Thursday in Wichita.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-wichita-fraud-fc1c773c3abcc88eac1fe4a6f2f410aa">A jury convicted</a>&nbsp;the 45-year-old former lawmaker in December of four counts of wire fraud, four counts of money laundering, three counts of making false statements on loan applications and one count of bank fraud. The jury acquitted him of six charges, and another charge was dismissed before his trial.

In a court filing ahead of Thursday's hearing, Capps attorney Kurt Kerns described Capps as a “single father and disabled American veteran who has no criminal history” and called for a sentence of five years of probation.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gordon argued prosecutors' sentencing memo that Capps had engaged in “goal-oriented deceit," using fake payroll numbers, employment data and revenue figures in filling out loan applications.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1581011016098.png" alt="Rep. Michael Capps -courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Rep. Michael Capps -courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former Kansas lawmaker who was convicted of 12 felonies for lying on applications for federal COVID-19 relief is trying to avoid spending any time in prison, with his attorney citing his Air Force service in a combat zone as one reason.But prosecutors have asked a federal judge to sentence former Republican state Rep. Michael Capps, of Wichita, to four years and three months in prison. They have argued in court documents that he “continues to show neither remorse nor contrition" over stealing nearly $500,000 in funds meant to help businesses remain afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren scheduled Capps' sentencing for Thursday in Wichita.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/kansas-wichita-fraud-fc1c773c3abcc88eac1fe4a6f2f410aa">A jury convicted</a>&nbsp;the 45-year-old former lawmaker in December of four counts of wire fraud, four counts of money laundering, three counts of making false statements on loan applications and one count of bank fraud. The jury acquitted him of six charges, and another charge was dismissed before his trial.Capps served a single term in the Kansas House in 2019-20 and lost his 2020 Republican primary race.Prosecutors said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-small-business-kansas-wichita-fded927c30985c9c0b8c8a586d66423a">Capps filed forms inflating</a>&nbsp;the number of employees he had at two businesses and a sports foundation, then applied for loans to pay the nonexistent employees.In a court filing ahead of Thursday's hearing, Capps attorney Kurt Kerns described Capps as a “single father and disabled American veteran who has no criminal history” and called for a sentence of five years of probation.Capps served in the Air Force in Afghanistan and Pakistan for nearly seven months in 2001-02 under “harsh and dangerous combat conditions” and received multiple decorations, the defense filing said. Capps was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2018, the filing said, and the condition makes people more likely to engage in risky behavior.The defense filing also said Capps suffers from medical problems such as high blood pressure and would be “at a higher risk of death or serious illness” if he contracts COVID-19, which is more likely in prison.But Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gordon argued prosecutors' sentencing memo that Capps had engaged in “goal-oriented deceit," using fake payroll numbers, employment data and revenue figures in filling out loan applications.“This Court should reject the defendant's continued efforts to avoid responsibility, which signal his likelihood to persist in similar conduct in the future,” Gordon wrote.

Ex-Kan. legislator who committed COVID relief fraud seeks to avoid prison 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Officials in Missouri's largest city are moving to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state officials who are intent on banning it for minors and restricting it for adults.

A Kansas City Council committee approved such a resolution Wednesday. The full council will now consider it Thursday. The council members acted as the Republican-controlled Missouri Legislature gave final approval to a bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, sending it to GOP Gov. Mike Parson, who is expected to sign it into law. At least 16 other states have enacted laws restricting or banning such care for minors.

The resolution also comes as a judge considers a proposed emergency rule from Republican state Attorney General Andrew Bailey that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatment.

"This resolution is an entrance into a conversation and shows a commitment where trans people's presence in Kansas City is valued," Merrique Jenson, a transgender woman and founder of Transformations KC, a nonprofit that advocates for trans women of color, told the council committee. "It would minimize the legal violence toward trans people in accessing gender-affirming care."

The resolution, approved by the Transportation, Infrastructure and Operations Committee after being proposed by LGTBQ advocates, says the city will not prosecute or fine any person or organization that seeks, provides, receives or helps someone receive gender-affirming care such as as puberty blockers, hormones or surgery.

It also says if the state passes a law or resolution that imposes criminal or civil punishments, fines, or professional sanctions in such cases, personnel in Missouri's largest city will make enforcing those requirements "their lowest priority."

During the committee's debate, council members agreed that Kansas City should be welcoming, but council member Heather Hall questioned whether the issue was "a city conversation," adding, "This is us getting out of our lane."

Council member Melissa Robinson had questions about how being a sanctuary city would "play out" and worried about "the damage that comes back to the city" from the state.

But she backed the resolution after saying, "I do believe in good trouble, and this might just be one of those lines of good trouble."

Kansas City's proposal is coming from a Democratic-leaning city in a state with a Republican governor and GOP-controlled Legislature. In Texas, the state capital of Austin declared last year that it should be considered a sanctuary for transgender youth and their families, and Harris County, home to Houston, declared it wouldn't pursue cases against parents over gender-affirming care.

California,Minnesota and Washington have declared themselves sanctuary states for gender-affirming care, as have the cities of Chicago; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and West Hollywood, California.

Republican state lawmakers across the U.S. who've attacked gender-affirming care as part of a larger effort to roll back LGBTQ+ rights have argued that they're protecting children from decisions they may later regret. But gender-affirming care for minors has been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and is endorsed by major medical associations.

The resolution also says city personnel will not arrest or detain anyone sought by another jurisdiction for seeking gender-affirming care, respond to requests for information from other jurisdictions, or collect any civil penalties in such cases.

Supporters noted that Kansas City's police force is controlled by a state-appointed Board of Police Commissioners and any possible criminal charges in gender-affirming cases would be filed by the county prosecutor rather than city prosecutors — both of which could make enforcing the resolution problematic.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/5/1683748451184.png" alt="The resolution making Kansas City a sanctuary city for gender-affirming care was unanimously voted out of committee Wednesday. A large crowd attended the meeting. This legislation heads to the full Kansas City Council for a vote Thursday at 3p.m. Photo by Councilwoman Andrea Bough courtesy Justice Horn, chair of the LGBTQ Commission" />
 <figcaption>The resolution making Kansas City a sanctuary city for gender-affirming care was unanimously voted out of committee Wednesday. A large crowd attended the meeting. This legislation heads to the full Kansas City Council for a vote Thursday at 3p.m. Photo by Councilwoman Andrea Bough courtesy Justice Horn, chair of the LGBTQ Commission</figcaption>
 </figure>By JOHN HANNA and MARGARET STAFFORDKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Officials in Missouri's largest city are moving to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state officials who are intent on banning it for minors and restricting it for adults.A Kansas City Council committee approved such a resolution Wednesday. The full council will now consider it Thursday. The council members acted as the Republican-controlled Missouri Legislature gave final approval to a bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, sending it to GOP Gov. Mike Parson, who is expected to sign it into law. At least 16 other states have enacted laws restricting or banning such care for minors.The resolution also comes as a judge considers a proposed emergency rule from Republican state Attorney General Andrew Bailey that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatment."This resolution is an entrance into a conversation and shows a commitment where trans people's presence in Kansas City is valued," Merrique Jenson, a transgender woman and founder of Transformations KC, a nonprofit that advocates for trans women of color, told the council committee. "It would minimize the legal violence toward trans people in accessing gender-affirming care."The resolution, approved by the Transportation, Infrastructure and Operations Committee after being proposed by LGTBQ advocates, says the city will not prosecute or fine any person or organization that seeks, provides, receives or helps someone receive gender-affirming care such as as puberty blockers, hormones or surgery.It also says if the state passes a law or resolution that imposes criminal or civil punishments, fines, or professional sanctions in such cases, personnel in Missouri's largest city will make enforcing those requirements "their lowest priority."During the committee's debate, council members agreed that Kansas City should be welcoming, but council member Heather Hall questioned whether the issue was "a city conversation," adding, "This is us getting out of our lane."Council member Melissa Robinson had questions about how being a sanctuary city would "play out" and worried about "the damage that comes back to the city" from the state.But she backed the resolution after saying, "I do believe in good trouble, and this might just be one of those lines of good trouble."Kansas City's proposal is coming from a Democratic-leaning city in a state with a Republican governor and GOP-controlled Legislature. In Texas, the state capital of Austin declared last year that it should be considered a sanctuary for transgender youth and their families, and Harris County, home to Houston, declared it wouldn't pursue cases against parents over gender-affirming care.California,Minnesota and Washington have declared themselves sanctuary states for gender-affirming care, as have the cities of Chicago; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and West Hollywood, California.Republican state lawmakers across the U.S. who've attacked gender-affirming care as part of a larger effort to roll back LGBTQ+ rights have argued that they're protecting children from decisions they may later regret. But gender-affirming care for minors has been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and is endorsed by major medical associations.The resolution also says city personnel will not arrest or detain anyone sought by another jurisdiction for seeking gender-affirming care, respond to requests for information from other jurisdictions, or collect any civil penalties in such cases.Supporters noted that Kansas City's police force is controlled by a state-appointed Board of Police Commissioners and any possible criminal charges in gender-affirming cases would be filed by the county prosecutor rather than city prosecutors — both of which could make enforcing the resolution problematic.